USTR Targets Critical TPP Progress in Busy Upcoming Week
U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman will meet with Vietnamese General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, the head of Vietnam’s communist party and one of the highest-ranking officials in the country, in Washington on July 6, the Office of the USTR said in its weekly schedule (here). President Barack Obama will summit with Trong the following day at the White House. Vietnam is party to Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations.
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The Trong visit will launch a busy week for USTR following the Independence Day break. U.S. Ambassador to the World Trade Organization Michael Punke will, also on July 6, lead the U.S. delegation in a Trade in Services Agreement negotiating round in Geneva. The next day, Deputy USTR Robert Holleyman will give a speech to the Alliance for Healthcare Competitiveness. Some trade critics say U.S. TPP proposals on medicines are poised to deprive global consumers of access to generic drugs (see 1502270018).
Acting Deputy USTR Wendy Cutler will travel on July 7 to Tokyo to continue TPP negotiations between the U.S. and Japan on agriculture market access and auto trade. USTR officials will then top off the week with a signing ceremony for the U.S.-Swiss Organic Equivalency Arrangement and an environment meeting under the Central America Free Trade Agreement.